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urocyonPup is still here. I suspect that the longer Neighbor Guy is gone, the less likely it is that he's going to turn back up to collect Pup.
We're still undecided on what to call him, other than Pup.vatine and I were on similar wavelengths there: I thought of Ray, he thought of Raj.# I am so not going to call a little puppy "Rage" (and continue to be appalled that anybody would), but sticking with something similar-sounding might not be a bad idea. Poor thing is probably confused enough already, though he seems pleased enough with his change in circumstances--understandably so!
We're caving and picking up or building a crate for him; the DIY option would be cheaper, and we have the materials, but it would be a bit longer before we had the crate ready. Besides its being generally handy, Max isn't entirely happy about Pup taking over his bed. Max isn't entirely happy, period, and has been needing some calm-down time outs elsewhere in the house. Hopefully he'll get used to it soon, especially with plenty of extra attention. Pup is also calming down a bit dealing with Uncle Max, as the novelty value of being around another dog wears off some. He's also getting a little less excitable just at being allowed in the house with other people. *crosses fingers*
House training status: not so great. Pup obviously just doesn't get it yet. We're starting totally from scratch. This morning I was convincing him to come outside with me to pee, and he stopped for a pee break on the way. *wry smile* We're going to have to pick up some more small towels for cleanup; even washing smallish loads of them multiple times a day, we've been running really short on towels.
I get the rather strong impression that Neighbor Dude wasn't showing Pup what he should be doing, just getting on him for the undesirable behavior. At least we got him fairly early in the all-too-common sequence: puppy doesn't magically do what you want; so puppy gets banished outside alone, doesn't magically house-train himself, never learns how to behave around humans (or other animals), so acts horribly excited and poorly socialized whenever you let him back in the house; so puppy may eventually end up at a shelter because of his "behavior problems". Some results of this approach are already evident dealing with Pup, after a month or so of it, but at least he wasn't stuck outside for longer than that.
As it is, Pup acts nervous when we try to get him to come outside at night in particular, the way he got yelled at and punitively banished to the deck earlier. Taking him out on his leash may be necessary for a while. I'm making over him when he will come outside when called, so hopefully it won't take him long to get some different associations going. In a while, I'm going to sit on the patio and read with Max and Pup, so with any luck he will go to the bathroom outside and get rewarded and made over again. And watch Uncle Max go out there some more.
Last night I broke out the clicker and some cat treats, just about the right size for pup rewards. It got his attention right off, and he's responding well so far. *crosses fingers* He's already doing pretty well with "sit". Guess we should pick up a second clicker for Ingvar.
Yesterday was pretty stressful, between getting woken up twice by the doorbell and all the disruption with Pup. (Yeah, I really do better without a lot of routine changes.) My back and blood glucose have been screwed up from stress--and I keep having to bend over dealing with Pup and his messes, knowing it's going to hurt. Today is looking better so far, though. Guess I'm finally getting more used to the changes around here!
Now it's time to go and repot a ficus that got dragged in from the patio. Vacuuming up the potting soil can wait until later.
# With my rhotacism, if I had my druthers, it wouldn't start in an "R" at all. (Neither would my own name, for that matter.) One thing I like about living here: it doesn't stand out that much until you reach the Jonathan Ross level, which I haven't since I started school. Still, I prefer words I can say without half-expecting "widicule".
16:40 Update: Neighbor Dude is definitely upgraded to Neighbor Weasel. While I was in the shower a few minutes ago, I heard somebody go up the front steps (right next to our bathroom) and walk around upstairs. They were gone by the time I got dried off and out of there. And I would be astounded if anybody up there could not hear our shower going; we sure can hear theirs.
We're still undecided on what to call him, other than Pup.
vatine and I were on similar wavelengths there: I thought of Ray, he thought of Raj.# I am so not going to call a little puppy "Rage" (and continue to be appalled that anybody would), but sticking with something similar-sounding might not be a bad idea. Poor thing is probably confused enough already, though he seems pleased enough with his change in circumstances--understandably so!We're caving and picking up or building a crate for him; the DIY option would be cheaper, and we have the materials, but it would be a bit longer before we had the crate ready. Besides its being generally handy, Max isn't entirely happy about Pup taking over his bed. Max isn't entirely happy, period, and has been needing some calm-down time outs elsewhere in the house. Hopefully he'll get used to it soon, especially with plenty of extra attention. Pup is also calming down a bit dealing with Uncle Max, as the novelty value of being around another dog wears off some. He's also getting a little less excitable just at being allowed in the house with other people. *crosses fingers*
House training status: not so great. Pup obviously just doesn't get it yet. We're starting totally from scratch. This morning I was convincing him to come outside with me to pee, and he stopped for a pee break on the way. *wry smile* We're going to have to pick up some more small towels for cleanup; even washing smallish loads of them multiple times a day, we've been running really short on towels.
I get the rather strong impression that Neighbor Dude wasn't showing Pup what he should be doing, just getting on him for the undesirable behavior. At least we got him fairly early in the all-too-common sequence: puppy doesn't magically do what you want; so puppy gets banished outside alone, doesn't magically house-train himself, never learns how to behave around humans (or other animals), so acts horribly excited and poorly socialized whenever you let him back in the house; so puppy may eventually end up at a shelter because of his "behavior problems". Some results of this approach are already evident dealing with Pup, after a month or so of it, but at least he wasn't stuck outside for longer than that.
As it is, Pup acts nervous when we try to get him to come outside at night in particular, the way he got yelled at and punitively banished to the deck earlier. Taking him out on his leash may be necessary for a while. I'm making over him when he will come outside when called, so hopefully it won't take him long to get some different associations going. In a while, I'm going to sit on the patio and read with Max and Pup, so with any luck he will go to the bathroom outside and get rewarded and made over again. And watch Uncle Max go out there some more.
Last night I broke out the clicker and some cat treats, just about the right size for pup rewards. It got his attention right off, and he's responding well so far. *crosses fingers* He's already doing pretty well with "sit". Guess we should pick up a second clicker for Ingvar.
Yesterday was pretty stressful, between getting woken up twice by the doorbell and all the disruption with Pup. (Yeah, I really do better without a lot of routine changes.) My back and blood glucose have been screwed up from stress--and I keep having to bend over dealing with Pup and his messes, knowing it's going to hurt. Today is looking better so far, though. Guess I'm finally getting more used to the changes around here!
Now it's time to go and repot a ficus that got dragged in from the patio. Vacuuming up the potting soil can wait until later.
# With my rhotacism, if I had my druthers, it wouldn't start in an "R" at all. (Neither would my own name, for that matter.) One thing I like about living here: it doesn't stand out that much until you reach the Jonathan Ross level, which I haven't since I started school. Still, I prefer words I can say without half-expecting "widicule".
16:40 Update: Neighbor Dude is definitely upgraded to Neighbor Weasel. While I was in the shower a few minutes ago, I heard somebody go up the front steps (right next to our bathroom) and walk around upstairs. They were gone by the time I got dried off and out of there. And I would be astounded if anybody up there could not hear our shower going; we sure can hear theirs.
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no subject
Date: 2010-08-12 06:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-13 12:15 pm (UTC)We settled on "Boomer", in case you didn't see Ingvar's post. I was also thinking that maybe he would be better off getting totally away from the associations with his old name. And, unlike Max, he hadn't been called that for ten years. (Max is hardly in the same category as Rage, of course!)
no subject
Date: 2010-08-11 02:55 pm (UTC)Is he good with the cats? (I expect he'll soon learn to be, after a scratched nose or two!)
Good luck with the house-training!
no subject
Date: 2010-08-11 04:31 pm (UTC)He briefly met one of them last night, when I carried Mirrors in through the back door. And he met Punkin in the hall before that, though I didn't see it. It was encouraging last night: Pup just looked interested, while continuing to lie in Max's crate. I don't think he's had a lot of dealings with cats so far, and I expect it will be easier to get Pup and the cats used to one another than it has been with Max. (They're still mostly staying in separate parts of the house, except under supervision; Max still gets all excited and tries to chase them if they run away from him sometimes.)
This evening I may try carrying a held Mirrors--the least intimidated by dogs--in with the pup, while Max is having one of his breaks in another room.